The only sign of spring during the Navy Spring Invitational in Annapolis could be found in the name of the tournament, as snow forced an abbreviated competition. In the Invitational’s only round, the Raiders finished with a 40 over par 324, placing them in a tie for 20th out of 25 competing schools. With the temperature never reaching higher than freezing, the scores were high at the very least.

For the second time in as many contests this spring, Colgate’s top scorer was junior Ricky Hayes, who had the 23rd best score with five over par. Sophomore Keaton Cross also finished in the top 50 individual golfers, only two strokes behind Hayes, but landed 22 spots behind him at number 45 overall. First-year Matt Salmon also finished in the top 100, sliding into 90th with a round of 82. Sophomore Montek Mayal and senior captain Sam Gerston were Colgate’s other finishers, with scores of 88 and 92, respectively.

Just as at the slightly more publicized golf tournament that was happening down in Augusta, the weather had an effect on just about everyone’s game. The best team score was an elevated 16 over par, and half of the participating teams had scores worse than +30, which is impressive for half of a tournament.

Bucknell and Navy were the only Patriot League competitors to post better scores than Colgate, nestling the Raiders right into the middle of the pack at third out of the five League rivals that participated. Lehigh and Lafayette finished one and three strokes back from the Raiders, respectively. Bucknell had the best showing, finishing eighth overall, with three individual golfers posting scores in the top 50 for the abbreviated weekend.

The Raiders will be back on the links this weekend at the Lafayette Invitational. The course is a long one, measuring just less than 7,000 yards total with a par of 72. Hopefully Colgate will be able to tune their game up because the Invitational is the last contest of the year before the Patriot League Tournament, which will be held at Army’s course in West Point.